Joonas Kemppainen

Joonas Kemppainen (born 7 April 1988) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey forward who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Boston Bruins and most recently played for Oulun Kärpät in the Liiga.

Joonas Kemppainen
Kemppainen in September 2015
Born	(1988-04-07) 7 April 1988 (age 37) Kajaani, Finland
Height	6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight	220 lb (100 kg; 15 st 10 lb)
Position	Forward
Shot	Left
Played for	Ässät HPK Boston Bruins Sibir Novosibirsk Salavat Yulaev Ufa SKA Saint Petersburg Oulun Kärpät
National team	Finland
NHL draft	Undrafted
Playing career	2006–2025

Playing career

Kemppainen in 2009.

Undrafted, Kemppainen played nine seasons in the Finnish Liiga with Ässät, HPK and Oulun Kärpät.^[1] After his second consecutive season of 30 plus points with Kärpät in the 2014–15 season, on 21 May 2015, Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney announced that the club had signed Kemppainen to a one-year, two-way NHL contract for the 2015–16 season.^[2]

He picked up his first NHL assist and scored his first NHL goal on 23 October 2015, against Jaroslav Halák of the New York Islanders in a 5-3 Bruins victory.

Less than a year after coming to the United States, Kemppainen signed a deal with KHL hockey club Sibir Novosibirsk on 14 May 2016.^[3]

Following two productive seasons with Salavat Yulaev Ufa, including reaching the Eastern Conference Finals in the 2018–19 season, posting 14 points in 17 games, Kemppaninen secured a lucrative one-year contract with SKA Saint Petersburg on 1 May 2019.^[4]

Kemppainen played three seasons with SKA Saint Petersburg before leaving following the 2021–22 campaign to return to his native Finland on a one-year contract with former club, Kärpät of the Liiga, on 27 April 2022.^[5]

After recording 37 points in 67 Liiga regular-season and playoff games in 2023-24, Kemppainen sat out most of the 2024-25 season before finally announcing his retirement at age 36 on 20 February 2025.^[6]

International play

Kemppainen competed in the 2015 IIHF World Championships, finishing third on Team Finland in scoring in his debut senior tournament.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2004–05	Ässät	FIN U18		10	4	0	4	18		—	—	—	—	—
2004–05	Ässät	FIN U20		33	5	7	12	12		—	—	—	—	—
2005–06	Ässät	FIN U18		1	1	0	1	0		8	3	9	12	2
2005–06	Ässät	FIN U20		37	9	16	25	12		—	—	—	—	—
2006–07	Ässät	FIN U20		27	7	17	24	8		—	—	—	—	—
2006–07	Ässät	SM-l		43	1	3	4	4		—	—	—	—	—
2007–08	Ässät	FIN U20		18	2	11	13	6		12	3	4	7	4
2007–08	Ässät	SM-l		22	1	1	2	0		—	—	—	—	—
2007–08	Jukurit	Mestis		8	1	5	6	2		—	—	—	—	—
2008–09	HPK	SM-l		54	7	15	22	20		6	1	0	1	2
2009–10	HPK	SM-l		55	7	19	26	12		17	0	1	1	0
2010–11	Kärpät	SM-l		60	2	5	7	10		3	1	1	2	0
2011–12	Kärpät	SM-l		60	9	14	23	43		1	0	0	0	0
2012–13	Kärpät	SM-l		60	7	6	13	14		3	1	0	1	0
2013–14	Kärpät	Liiga		51	17	14	31	6		16	0	4	4	12
2014–15	Kärpät	Liiga		59	11	21	32	18		19	10	14	24	2
2015–16	Boston Bruins	NHL		44	2	3	5	4		—	—	—	—	—
2015–16	Providence Bruins	AHL		11	1	4	5	2		—	—	—	—	—
2016–17	Sibir Novosibirsk	KHL		60	11	12	23	22		—	—	—	—	—
2017–18	Salavat Yulaev Ufa	KHL		55	16	21	37	12		14	4	5	9	4
2018–19	Salavat Yulaev Ufa	KHL		59	17	16	33	41		17	10	4	14	12
2019–20	SKA Saint Petersburg	KHL		56	6	7	13	8		4	2	1	3	2
2020–21	SKA Saint Petersburg	KHL		54	15	14	29	10		16	3	3	6	4
2021–22	SKA Saint Petersburg	KHL		40	13	14	27	47		4	1	0	1	0
2022–23	Kärpät	Liiga		58	14	18	32	12		3	1	1	2	0
Liiga totals				522	76	116	192	139		68	14	21	35	16
NHL totals				44	2	3	5	4		—	—	—	—	—
KHL totals				324	78	84	162	140		55	20	13	33	22

International

Year	Team	Event	Result		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2005	Finland	U18	7th		6	0	0	0	2
2006	Finland	U18			6	1	1	2	2
2008	Finland	WJC	6th		6	2	1	3	4
2015	Finland	WC	6th		8	3	6	9	0
2017	Finland	WC	4th		10	2	1	3	2
2018	Finland	OG	6th		5	2	2	4	2
Junior totals					18	3	2	5	8
Senior totals					23	7	9	16	4